King's Pawn Game
by magical-notes
Summary: High School is either the best of times or the worst. There's teenage romance, fitting in, finding after school activities, not to mention the drama in the teacher's lounge. The school's chess club becomes a haven of misfits and mutants. Multiple pairing
1. En Passant

Charles Xavier shifted his book bag on his shoulder, glancing at his sister and their friend and offering them a bright smile, "We've finally arrived to hear some people tell it."

The first day of high school was supposed to be an adventure, but for a blossoming telepath it was more like jumping off a boat into a stormy sea without a life preserver. The number of emotions and thoughts he could already feel battering at his shields were sure to cause troubles if he was having a bad day.

Hank McCoy gave him a long, somewhat deep suffering look. "We've finally arrived? Please tell me you're joking. I'd rather be heading out that arriving."

That got a laugh from Raven, who was walking on Charles' other side, "Four years, Hank. You'll survive."

"Says you now," Hank returned, hunching his shoulders slightly.

"Oh, come on." She grinned at him, "What's the w—"

Charles cut her off, "Raven, don't jinx us the first day, please."

"Please," Hank added. He glanced down at the rather plain looking shirt that Raven had informed him he was wearing on the first day of class—after taking away his pocket protector from middle school—and sighed. "It can't be that much different from the last few years, can it?"

"Perhaps not initially," Charles admitted, "But there's a chance that it will improve with time. After all, more than half the student body doesn't know us...or doesn't really know us, so we can craft ourselves as we like."

"Until the half that does gets back at us?" Hank replied, nearly running into a blond boy heading the other way. "I'm not sure I want more students running around myself."

The blond turned slightly at that, scowling in their direction, but was hurried along by a taller brunet. Charles' brow arched at the flash of _something_ he'd gotten from the two, but he brushed it off. "You're looking at it the wrong way, Hank," he chided.

"I'm with Charles," Raven nodded. "Try to find the bright side."

"Bright side?" Hank returned. "Charles, we're in _high school_."

"And we'll be graduating in just a few years, and able to go on to do whatever we like," Charles responded.

Hank sighed. "You're going to pester me until I start looking at the bright side here, aren't you?"

The telepath grinned at him, "You know I will."

"Fine," the taller teen whined. "I'm sure the next four years will just _fly_ by and then we can all happily move onto the greener pastures of college."

Charles and Raven exchanged a look at that, Charles finally shrugging, "Well, it's a start."

Hank looked distinctly unimpressed at that, glancing down at his schedule. "Does anyone have any ideas about this whole... clubs fair or something like that?"

Raven shrugged, "Not really, but I'm going for the sake of going at this point. Charles?"

"Haven't heard much about it, but I figure there's no real harm in attending."

"It's after classes I think," Hank said, adjusting his glasses. "Anyone happen to have any good classes?"

Raven grimaced slightly, "Not really. I've got Drama for an elective, but who knows how that'll go."

"Dramatically, I would presume," Hank said with a teasing grin.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we should head for our first classes then I guess?"

"Probably," Hank sighed, looking down at his schedule. "At least I'm not in math with the freshmen..."

Charles managed a bit of a laugh at that, "Yes, at least. Well, we all have second lunch, right?"

"Second lunch," Hank agreed.

Raven nodded, causing her brother to smile, "Great, so we'll meet up then?"

"Then again at this... fair?" Hank offered as a tall, angular teen in a black turtle neck stalked by, looking very focused on where ever he was heading.

Charles gaze was drawn to the other teen, watching him go and only snapping back to himself when his sister elbowed him, "Hm? Oh, yes, meet again at the fair thing."

"You okay there, Charles?" Hank asked with an arched brow.

"Hm? Oh, yes. I'm fine. I'll see you both at lunch. Have a good first few classes."

As Charles went off, Hank glanced back to Raven, whose first class was closer to his own. "What was that?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. You know how he gets sometimes with the things he hears. Maybe it was something like that?"

"Ah, true," Hank murmured. "Still, I'm worried about him here, bright side or not."

"He'll be alright. We'll keep an eye on him."

"I believe that was already our plan?" Hank offered.

She nodded, "It was. Anything new to add to our worries about him?"

"I don't know, tall brooding strangers?" Hank replied.

"We'll keep an eye on him too," Raven nodded decisively. "Maybe it was just something about his thoughts? Who knows. But we'll watch him. Have a good class, Hank."

"Yeah, you too," he said, waving her off before entering the math class he had tested into—he had no idea what the school was planning to do with him after he took senior math freshman year.

H-H-H-H

Darwin sighed at the blond boy beside him. "Could you pretend to be cheerful? Smile for all the nice people, Alex."

Alex Summers rolled his eyes, "This is cheerful. Doesn't mean I want to be here. Why are we going to the club fair or whatever the hell it is?"

"Because it's sociable?" Darwin offered.

"You're sounding like Scott."

"Probably because I was hanging out with your brother all summer," Darwin rolled his eyes. "Besides, isn't golden boy all involved in clubs and stuff?"

"See reason number seventeen I don't want to go to this. He's president of a couple. Can't I just go out for baseball and call it good?"

"No, you can't," Darwin replied, reaching out and taking his upper arm. "Come along now."

Alex rolled his eyes again, but allowed himself to be dragged along to the club fair, "Fine."

"We'll avoid Scott's clubs, alright?" Darwin gave him a peace offering.

"Alright. We avoid those ones like the plague."

Darwin laughed. "Oh come on, your brother's not that bad..."

"Says the guy who doesn't have to live with him, and doesn't have to take classes from teachers who had him last year."

"Oh no," Darwin couldn't help but laugh. "Are they already starting in on that?"

"Not yet, but that's what happened last year, and the year before, and I give them 'til the first assignments are turned in."

"It won't be that bad," Darwin attempted.

Alex looked unconvinced, "So, any idea what clubs you're thinking about?"

"Not yet," he said. "It's all about energy, you know? Gotta see who else is around before deciding on anything. That's why a fair's so cool, you see all the clubs at once."

The blond just looked at the other, "Energy. Right."

"Oh hush you. Yes, energy."

"Well, let's go see what sort of after school activities they have devised to keep us hooligans out of trouble."

"You're not that much of a hooligan," Darwin murmured, reaching the doors of the gym where everything was set up.

That earned a ghost of a grin as he murmured his reply, "I hope you think that, can't see you dating a true hooligan."

"I'm much too dignified," Darwin agreed, looking around the bustling room. "Hm, where to start?"

"How about that far corner over there that's clear across the gym from my brother?" Alex pointed to the corner he meant.

"We could at least say hi," Darwin said, with a small shake of his head.

"And we will. If there is still time once we've seen all the other booths."

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Darwin used his hand on Alex's arm to sheer him toward the nearest club flyers.

Raven strode into the gym, looking around at the mass of students and club tables. She glanced up at Hank, "Do you remember where we were meeting Charles?"

"Not really?" Hank offered. "We might want to try, I don't know, the chess club?"

"There's a chess club? That's probably our best bet for Charles then."

"I think I saw something about one," Hank replied.

"Well, let's go find that then," she grabbed his wrist and started weaving through the crowd.

He allowed himself to be dragged along, not much noticing the different club booths they were passing, full of various people smiling and trying to tempt people to their side. "We have a science club?"

"Apparently. I promise you can go back and look it over once we've found Charles."

"Okay," he murmured, eyes still roving over the room before they settled on what looked like a paper mâché chess piece. "I bet it's that one."

Raven looked to where he was pointing and nodded, slipping through a gap in the press of people.

Following her, Hank frowned slightly when he noticed the same tall teen in the turtleneck. He did not look impressed in the least with the general fair. The girl didn't notice the teen from earlier, her gaze sweeping around for her brother. She finally spotted him next to the chess table, but almost between it and the booth next to it to avoid too much contact with the crowd, "Charles!"

He looked up from where he was talking to one of the members of the chess club, his blue eyes seeking her out. He offered her a bright smile, faintly tinged with relief, "Raven, there you are."

"There's more people here then I actually expected," Hank remarked, following Raven closely, glancing every once and a while at the tall teen, who seemed to have noticed the chess table.

Charles nodded at that, taking his sister's hand as soon as she was in range. She let go of Hank and gave her brother an anchor, "There are rather a lot more people than I think most of us expected. Though, I suppose it's a sort of rite of passage to some."

"High school tends to be," Hank murmured. "So let me guess, you want to be on chess team?"

That earned a grin from Charles, "Of course I do. I wouldn't be here otherwise, would I?"

"Well, you could be hiding," Hank remarked.

That comment was greeted with wide blue eyes, looking up at him innocently, "And who or what would I possibly be hiding from?"

"No idea," Hank murmured, only somewhat sarcastically.

Raven looked her brother over, considering saying something, but a look from his silenced her. Charles glanced at Hank, "So, see anything that sparks your interest?"

"We have a science team," Hank replied, and a glint entered his eyes.

"Well, perhaps we should go check that out next?" Charles offered, his gaze sweeping around the students again and coming to rest on the tall teen in the turtleneck.

"Sure," Hank said, following his gaze. "Does, um, anyone know who that is?"

Raven shook her head as Charles answered, "Erik. He's new to town."

His sister eyed him, "Do you have a class with him?"

"I think I have English with him."

"You think?"

"I was paying attention to the teacher then."

Raven looked at him warily, "Are you skimming?"

Charles had the sense to look a bit sheepish at that, "Maybe a bit..."

"Charles," Hank started to say softly as the teen in question suddenly appeared next to them at the booth.

"Is this a club for chess?" he asked, his English good but still with a marked German accent.

Charles looked up, offering him a smile, "As far as I can determine, it is." He paused for a moment before offering the other his hand, "Charles Xavier."

The taller teen's eyes flickered down to the offered hand before taking it. "Erik Lehnsherr," he replied.

"Do you like chess, then?" Charles asked, ignoring Raven's sigh of frustration.

"Yes," he replied. "Do you?"

The smaller teen nodded, "I do. I don't get as much chance to play as I used to, but I do enjoy it."

"Well perhaps something of this sort would give you more chance to play, no?" Erik offered, Hank giving him a very odd look.

"I certainly hope it will," Charles answered. Startling very slightly when his sister kicked lightly at the back of his ankle, "Oh, I'm sorry. I completely forgot, Erik, this is my sister Raven and our friend Hank McCoy."

"Charmed," Erik said, sparing them a glance that didn't look half so interested as the one he'd been giving Charles.

"I'm sure you are," Hank muttered.

Raven smiled thinly, "Well, it's good to meet you. We were just headed to the science team table, weren't we, Charles?"

"Hm? Oh, you two can go on and I'll catch—" He stopped at the look on his sister's face, "Oh. Right. Yes..." He glanced back at Erik, "Well, I'll see you around?"

"I believe so," Erik replied as Darwin finally made his way up to the chess team table, still steering Alex around with him.

The dark skinned teen considered the group around the table and nodded. "I like this one," he declared.

"No. No way in hell, Darwin," Alex protested.

Hank blinked rapidly, recognizing the teen that had just ran him over earlier.

"Why not?" Darwin protested.

"You really think _chess_ is a good idea?" the blond scowled.

"Have you ever played before?" Hank asked softly.

"Nope," Darwin declared, still quite happy with the idea. "But I think now will be a fantastic time to learn."

"And so...I'm along for the ride. Thanks. Remind me to not trust your judgment for clubs," Alex muttered.

Charles offered the two one of his bright smiles, "Oh come, it can't be that bad. I'm sure you'd be good at it." He managed not to wince as Raven stepped on his foot.

"I'm sure," Hank muttered, not sure he liked the look of the pair and Erik just blinked at the entire tableau.

Alex's gaze darted to Hank, "You saying I wouldn't?"

"I-I said nothing of the kind," Hank replied, taking a small step back. Out loud he hadn't anyway.

The blond's eyes narrowed, "Okay, Darwin. I'm in."

That got a rapid blink out of Darwin and Hank's shoulders hunched slightly. "Wonderful," the dark skinned teen declared happily.

* * *

><p>Your note from Victoriousscarf: So, when you run into high school stories, they either tend to be "High school is the best time of life ever!" or "High school is hell." This story sorta takes more a middle ground between the two, though of course there's going to be that requisite bit of drama that must come with this age group. We'll be dealing a lot with the set of characters out of the First Class movie, but we're pulling in a lot of other characters from the comics and other movies too and just sorta throwing them all together in this setting. In fact, we're pulling some characters out of Marvel that don't come from the X-Men line at all. I think we have a total of 14 some pairings for this story over the course of the next four years.<p>

Right now it's set up as a series of connecting one shots/two shots within this high school, so it's gonna be updated sorta sporadically as we work on it between other projects.

The last thing is, yes, we're using Chess Team cos the idea of Erik and Charles meeting at Chess Team was what set this whole thing rolling. My brother was a member of our school's Chess Team for four years and he got a varsity letter in it three years, if not all four. ((Yeah, kids on the Chess Team can get varsity/Letterman's jackets if they wanted, which I always found hilarious.)) So most of our knowledge about the Team is probably going to come from him. Cheers all and we hope you enjoy!


	2. Checkmate

Raven glanced at the classroom number and then at Hank. It was the first day of chess club and they'd had a week to settle in so far. She still wasn't sure what she was thinking about most of the people in most of her classes and she was still extremely uncertain about the German student in her brother's English class. "Charles said he was meeting us here right?"

"He claimed he was going to," Hank replied, moving from the balls of his feet to his heels several times, wearing a classical Star Wars shirt. "He seemed fairly excited about the idea of a chess club after all."

"I'm trying to decide whether that's for chess or for the people in the club," she muttered in response as they entered the classroom.

Charles was already there, perched on one of the desks. He offered them a smile, "Hank, Raven! There you are."

"I would hope the chess," Hank muttered before offering Charles a smile. "Hey."

"How are you today?"

Raven shrugged, "Still getting the hang of a couple of classes."

Hank nodded his agreement. "Certain classes have been quite interesting," he admitted. "But at least I finally am in a higher math course.

"Which isn't really a surprise," Raven remarked, perching on a desk in the row next to her brother.

Hank chuckled. "Maybe not. Mr. Logan is a very... scary, fascinating man."

Charles tilted his head on one side, "Mr. Logan? I think I've heard some people talking about him."

"Talking, or _talking_, Charles?" his sister looked skeptical.

"Both," came the frank reply.

"Do I want to hear this?" Hank asked, tilting his head and glancing around the room. Few students were there yet, but a blonde girl in spotless white clothing was sitting at a corner desk inspecting her nails.

"Some people think he's got literal bodies buried in his basement. Usually it's got some aspect to it being a student who failed an exam or some such rubbish. My opinion is that he's failed half of them," Charles explained, glancing to the door every couple of seconds.

"I think Mr. Logan takes a personal joy in failing students he doesn't like," Hank replied, looking toward the door. "Are you waiting for someone, Charles?"

He turned his gaze back to Hank, "Hm? Oh, no, just the coach."

Raven looked skeptical at that, "Right. How are classes for you, Charles?"

"Oh, you know, decent. I'll do well enough. English has some interesting reading and I like the teacher there. She's quite cheery."

"Have you seen that one exchange student much?" Hank asked, trying to keep his voice light.

The smaller boy smiled at that, "Well, he's in my English class. And he's got some great ideas, I just wish he'd share some of them more often."

Raven's eyes widened, her voice dropping to a hiss, "Charles Francis Xavier! Are you out of your goddamned mind?"

Hank glanced between them. "You're reading his ideas from his mind?" he asked, voice dropping in shock.

"I don't mean to! You know I need someone to focus on or I deal with too many minds, and I can hardly focus on Miss Pryde's without taking unfair advantage of that."

"But the student you barely know!" Hank protested. "I mean, the honestly sortta creepy student you barely know! It's one thing when it's Raven or I—"

Charles opened his mouth to protest, but Raven cut him off, "No. You can lock onto us for other classes so you can do it for that one too. You know better than this."

"Why are you?" Hank asked softly. "Why focus on him?"

"I...I don't know. He's got...his mind's different. Even if I don't mean to, it's really easy to sink into it. It's...it's got sharp edges to it, but it's partially because of that guard. I don't know how to explain it, Hank," Charles answered quietly, looking chastised.

"Well, you might want to consider it," Hank replied. "Possibly very hard."

"I'll try," the telepath finally conceded.

Just as Hank glanced over at Raven to back him up on this the door opened again and the angular German they had just been discussing walked in, sweeping the room with his gaze.

Charles felt his sister's hand on his arm to give him a physical link even as he offered Erik a smile and a half wave as the other entered.

For a moment the tall teen in a dark turtleneck considered before walking over. Hank leaned back slightly at that, a little unsure about being confronted with the other teen. "Hello," Erik said, voice low and just a little raspy.

Raven glanced at Hank, sending very loud mental calls of "Charles, behave" toward her brother. Charles' smile meanwhile brightened a bit, "Hello, Erik. How was your day?"

The taller teen lifted his shoulders and let them fall again. "Uninteresting, so far," he replied. "And your day?" His grey eyes glanced toward Hank and Raven before centering back on Charles.

"It's going quite well, classes were relatively enjoyable and it's always nice to have the chance at something new," he replied.

"Are you new to chess?" Erik asked, interest finally seeming to show up in his expression.

"Not to chess, but playing it competitively is new. And I haven't played in a while."

"Well, I suppose revisiting old skills does one well," Erik said and Hank cleared his throat quite loudly, Erik giving him a considering look again.

"What, no one's going to introduce us?" Hank asked innocently enough.

"We already met," Erik said, looking him over.

Charles startled slightly at that, blinking at Hank for a moment, "Yes, well..." He offered his sister and friend a sheepish look.

Raven just offered him a scowl before looking at Erik, "How long have you been in town?"

"We moved here in July," Erik replied, not offering much more than that.

"From?" She pressed, ignoring the look her brother gave her.

"Germany," he said. "Or do you want more specifics on that as well?"

Raven shrugged, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on her thigh, "Well, come on, no one knows anything about you. No one's moved here in years. Can't help but be a bit curious."

"Be curious about someone else then," he said. "I hardly have an interesting story."

"Who'd you move here with?" Hank asked, sitting on one of the tables and long legs swinging slightly.

"Hank, Raven..." Charles sighed, "He asked you to leave off."

"No, he told us to. And when was the last time I did something someone _told_ me to do?" Raven glanced at her brother.

"Three days ago," her brother answered.

"How did I not hear about that?" Hank asked, head whipping around as Erik blinked at that exchange.

"It was me telling her to finish her science homework so we could go for a ride on the lake," Charles answered.

Raven shook her head, "Doesn't count there was a reward involved."

"Science homework isn't bad either," Hank said, not mentioning that homework in itself would probably count as the reward for him.

The girl laughed, shaking her head, "Well, that depends on who you ask. I just didn't want to do it."

Erik looked between the three and around the room. "The club is to start today?" he asked.

Charles nodded, "That's what I'd heard. The coach should be here soon."

Erik nodded, looking around the room before considering Charles quietly.

Alex Summers entered the room, his brown eyes sweeping around the room and his eyebrows rising when he spotted Hank's shirt. He strolled over and slouched down in one of the seats somewhat nearby.

Darwin followed quickly on his sheet, beaming quite happily at the general room before giving his boyfriend a hard look. "Come on Alex," he tried to soothe. "Don't sulk."

The blond looked unimpressed, "I'm not sulking. I just don't see why I agreed to this. Spending my afternoons playing chess with geeks and company."

"Be nice," Darwin added quickly. "But you did agree to this. It's just checking it out you know."

"Right, yeah," his gaze darted to Hank. "Some shirt."

"I like it," Hank returned, refusing to take those words in the way he was sure the blond intended them.

"Then why didn't you wear it last week?" Alex responded.

"Because I told him not to so assholes like you wouldn't make snap judgments," Raven answered, her expression bordering on dangerous. She glanced at her brother at a quiet reprimand.

"Raven," Hank said softly before glancing back at Alex. "So, yeah, that was part of it. But honestly I hardly need to wear the extent of my wardrobe in one week anyway. Why, do you only have the same clothes that you wear all the time? It must get quite wearisome wearing the same things."

Darwin looked for a moment like he might laugh, but stepped on Alex's foot instead, trying to get him to calm down.

Alex's hands clenched, but he managed to bite his tongue on that topic. However, when a lanky brunet entered the room he couldn't keep quiet. He turned to Darwin, "What the hell is he doing here?"

Hank glanced back at that, trying to clamp down on any leftover anger he felt.

Meanwhile, Darwin also blinked at the newest teen. "Maybe he likes chess?" he offered.

"Right, sure he does." Alex was on his feet and headed in that direction, "What are you doing here?"

"I've been meaning to check it out all of last year," the other answered.

"Sure, Scott, and I decided to grow wings tonight. Why are you here?"

Scott looked down at his younger brother and shrugged, "I already told you."

"You. Who functions on such a routine I'm pretty sure you're a robot decided to change that up to add a new club to your résumé? Why?"

"Because I wanted to see if my circuits could handle it," Scott answered dryly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see about making friends with the people in my grade. You might give it a try yourself." He headed for a different part of the room at that, nodding and smiling to some people he knew from other clubs.

Darwin was trying hard not to crack up at that. "Come on, Alex," he said softly. "It's not so bad your brother's here, right?"

Alex turned to his boyfriend, "Right, because the two hours of the day that I might have been able to have that didn't involve him now involving him is a good thing."

"It's not like he's gonna be here every day," Darwin said. "Besides, you can always hide at my house."

"Right, yeah, great." Alex sighed and settled back into the chair again, ignoring the looks that he was getting from some of the other students present.

Darwin patted him on the arm, looking around. "Well, if nothing else, it looks like we have a fairly interesting group, don't you think?"

Hank and Erik both looked unimpressed with that idea.

"Yes, the entire room is filled with _energy_," Alex's words held more venom than he intended. Charles' brow arched at that and he glanced toward Raven who just shook her head and promptly turned to dig through her book bag for something.

"Don't you think you're contributing more than enough to that?" Erik asked, arching one eyebrow.

"Did it sound like I was talking to you?" the blond snapped.

"As I was saying," Erik drawled, leaning against a desk and playing with a metallic pen—it was hard to tell from the distance it really was metal.

Alex could feel his temper, and by default his temperature, rising and he took a couple of deep breaths, trying to rein it in again. He glanced past Erik to where he could see his brother. Scott was watching him, calmly, but there was a flicker of concern in the set of his brother's jaw. Gritting his teeth, Alex offered Erik a tight smile, "Maybe so."

Glancing at Charles, Hank arched a brow, as if asking him what he thought about all of this. Erik just chuckled, the sound very low. "Calm down," he suggested. "You'll live longer."

"Mind your own business," Alex retorted.

Charles had his head tilted on one side, a slight frown on his features as he let the emotions in the room sweep over and around him. He shrugged when Hank glanced at him, if he sorted it out he'd explain later.

Just at that moment the door opened again, a very tall man walking through with a beaming smile, several files jumbled up in his arms and what looked like a chess board in a box. "Sorry I am late," he said, a faint Russian accent in his words.

Raven's brows rose at the sight of the chess team coach. He certainly wasn't what she'd been expecting.

"I had to find some things, and deal with a few last minute meetings," he was explaining, trying to set his objects down without dropping all of them before straightening. "I am Piotr Rasputin, and I hope everyone is here for chess club?"

He received a round of nods and yeses at that, even Alex looked a bit intrigued by the teacher.

"Excellent!" he said, clapping his hands. "Now, we have to be nice to this classroom since we're not actually using mine. There's too many things drying on the tables at the moment for that, and I thought this would be safer," he nodded to himself, looking around. "I see a couple faces I know, and a lot that I do not. So, I think we might start by pairing off and seeing what everyone knows about chess?"

Raven paused for a moment before raising her hand, "Will you be pairing us off or are we pairing ourselves off?"

"I think it might be better if I did," he said, still smiling quite contentedly. "Who here actually has chess experience?"

A few hands went up, Charles, Raven and Scott among them, though Scott's was a bit more hesitant.

The blonde girl in the corner's hand didn't bother to go up, sure Piotr recognized her. Hank paused before his hand went up, Erik's also rising though he looked quite lazy about the matter. Mr. Rasputin counted under his breath before nodding. "Alright then. Emma, if you could go with Mr..." he gestured to Scott. He paired the others off by pointing, Hank's heart nearly stopping when he was put with one Alex Summers. Oh this would be brilliant.

Raven blinked for a long moment at the teacher, before rolling her eyes and glancing at Erik. Alex considered the merits of simply walking out and finally decided it probably wasn't worth the effort.

Darwin nodded happily enough to Charles. Piotr finished his selections and clapped. "Alright, everyone, across from each other, and I'll pass out the boards, alright?"

The students moved around, finally getting settled like he'd instructed.

Raven settled across from Erik, "So, if I ask you questions about yourself will you answer them or will I have to rely on gossip?"

"Is there gossip already?" Erik asked, carefully setting out the black pieces. "I might be most interested to hear what that has to say first."

"Nothing of real note yet. I expect there will be soon, after all you're a novelty," she answered, her attention on setting the white pieces up.

"I always wonder about the idea of a human being being a novelty," he remarked. "What would you even care to know?"

"What made you move here?"

"My mother's work transferred her," he replied just as simply, not mentioning she had requested the transfer after his school called in a panic after the metal in the gym had started twisting one day. But on the surface the statement was entirely true.

Raven nodded, making the opening move of the game, "Do you like it here so far?"

"It is... quiet," he replied. "I'm not entirely sure beyond that."

"What was it like where you're from?"

He paused and shrugged. "It is hard to say. It was a nice enough place to spend time but I do not terribly miss it."

She nodded slightly, "Where do you live around here?"

"That is a little bit inquisitive, don't you think?" he arched a brow, moving a knight. "But it is in suburbia if that answers what sort of home I come from."

Raven shrugged, "Maybe it is. You're welcome to reciprocate with questions if you like."

He shrugged. "I prefer to find things out in a more traditional manner. Which is generally by getting to know someone first." That got another pause as he considered. "What is your relationship with Charles?"

"And you would get to know someone without questions, how?" She shook her head, moving her king-side bishop, "He's my brother."

"I would know them by what they say and how they act first," he returned. "You two appear the same age, in the same grade. Are you twins?"

Raven shook her head, "No. I was adopted when we were seven."

Moving his queen to take one of Raven's bishop, Erik nodded. "He seems a good brother. Or you seem a good sister."

"I like to think it's a little of both. I really don't know what I'd do without him as a brother," she admitted, considering the board. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No," he said and didn't elaborate.

Raven paused at that, but nodded, moving one of her pawns.

"So, there's no gossip yet?" he asked, grinning ferally at her to change the subject.

She looked up, smirking, "Oh I'm sure I could dig some up by the next time I see you if you'd like me to. I just haven't been listening much."

"I am sure it would be interesting to hear," he said. "Check."

Raven moved her king out of danger, and nodded, "Gossip about oneself usually is."

"What sort floats around you?"

She looked at him for a long moment, "You said you've been here since July and you still haven't heard the gossip about the Xavier family?"

"I don't usually pay attention," Erik shrugged.

Raven thought for a moment, finally nodding, "I'll tell you what, you see what gossip you hear about me and I'll do the same for you and we can compare notes next time we see each other?" No way in hell she was letting him in on the rumors that he hadn't heard yet.

"There will be a next time then?"

"Well, I'm assuming you'll be at another chess team meeting? Am I wrong?"

Erik's eyes drifted over. "I am sure I shall come back," he replied with a shrug.

"Then if you'd like we could always see about an exchange of information then," Raven proposed again. "Check."

Erik quickly moved his king out of danger. "Do you play chess with your brother?"

"Some, though we haven't as much in the last year or two," Raven answered. "Dad taught us both."

Considering, Erik nodded. "Why did you stop? Or lessen even."

The girl hesitated, "I guess we got busy, got into our own things more than just hanging out the two of us."

"A tradition you might want to re-establish," he said with a shrug. "Checkmate."

She looked over the board and then smiled faintly, "Certainly looks like we should, yes."

"Practice makes better," he said with a smirk, leaning back.

"Good game, anyhow," Raven answered. "I'll see if I can talk Charles into getting Dad's old chess set out maybe."

"Perhaps," Erik nodded. "It might do you both good." Piotr appeared, looking over the game quite happily and writing their scores down before moving on. "He is... a very happy fellow," Erik said slowly once he was gone.

Raven turned to watch him go, nodding a bit, "He does seem to be...rather cheery."

"What does he teach again?"

"Art I think? Not sure. I can always check, but I think it's art."

Erik nodded at that, looking around the room and considering the other games that had been going.

Emma Frost considered the brown haired boy across from her. She was vaguely aware of him, and pretty certain he might be in her own grade. She didn't even bother to ask him which color he might like, setting up the white pieces.

Scott arched a brow slightly at that, setting up the black pieces and watching Emma from behind his red sunglasses. He was pretty sure they'd had a class together the year before, but he hadn't ever really interacted with her.

Once the pieces were in place, she moved a pawn forward, the classical opening move before letting her eyes drift back up to him.

He responded with a similar move before looking up again, "I don't know if we've ever actually met."

"Not officially," she replied, moving another piece without offering anything else.

He blinked at that, not that she could see it, moved another piece, and fell silent.

"I didn't really expect you to show up here," she said after a couple more moves.

"Really? Any particular reason?"

"You don't seem the type," she said with a shrug.

"There's a type?" Scott sounded skeptical as he moved one of his knights. "I meant to check it out last year, but got tangled up with some other things."

"He's the type," she said, pointing at Hank McCoy. "You don't seem it is all."

That earned a ghost of a smile, "I like strategy, things that make me think, and that keep my mind sharp."

She made a humming sound at that, considering the board again and taking one of his rooks off it. "You act too charming to be a strategist."

He countered by capturing one of her bishops, "Isn't that the beauty of it, though? Not being what people expect when they see and hear you?"

That got a faint, but cold smile from her. "I suppose so."

Scott considered pursuing that, but backed off, "If you're saying I'm not the type to come here, then it begs the question of how you are?"

"Don't you know?" she said, picking up her queen and shaking it at him a moment before using it to take his knight. "I'm the white queen. I'm expected to be cold and calculating and entirely a strategist."

He moved a pawn and shook his head, "So you play to people's expectations and enjoy it, then?"

"You could say that," she said. "Though I think they expect me to be a cheerleader instead."

"Pretty blonde girl who puts forth an icy demeanor? I'm sure that's what they expect of you. So you play chess instead?"

She offered him a tight smile. "You can still letter in it," Emma said.

"Seems you can letter in a lot of things," he replied.

Smile remaining tight the blonde nodded. "Yes. But it plays to expectations while turning them on their head."

Scott inclined his head, "Granted."

She moved her queen further across the board, looking up at him, eyes looking bored. "What about you and those glasses anyway?"

He tensed very slightly, but focused on the game for a moment, moving a pawn, "Eye condition."

"Of course," she replied, looking at him a moment and shrugging, as if deciding on something and moving on.

"Of course?" He arched a brow at her when he received that response. Not that he minded her not pushing, but it was strange not to suddenly have a host of questions about the sort and treatment and what it did to his eyes and things like that.

She returned the arched brow. "Talk about it if you like," she shrugged. "But I hardly see the use in pressing."

"No, I hardly mind. I'm just not used to people not prying. God knows everyone does."

She rolled her shoulders again. "People enjoy gossip and pressing and finding out all your secrets. I do not."

Scott considered her for a long moment and then nodded, "Fair enough. It's good to know."

Her eyes flickered up to him a moment before she moved her queen again. "Checkmate."

Charles offered Darwin a smile over the chess board as he set up the black pieces. He made certain to have his mental shields up to block out everyone else's thoughts, something he could do, but rarely did due to the trouble they were to maintain.

Giving him a grin, Darwin considered the white pieces. "Now, it's been a while since I gave chess a try..."

"Well, it's white's start," the brunet offered gently. "You know how the pieces move, I assume?"

"I remember that much," he laughed, pulling a pawn out.

That garnered a laugh from Charles, "Good to know." He moved one of his pawns, watching the other boy for a moment. For him chess had always been a double edged training, the first was keeping his opponent's thoughts out and the second was reading the other without his gift.

Considering the board, Darwin deployed another piece before looking back at Charles. "So, enjoying your first week of high school?"

"Well enough, yes. Classes look promising, though Raven would probably accuse me of hopeless optimism if she heard me say that. Are you?"

"It's high school," Darwin shrugged. "So far it hasn't been either quite the hell or quite the fantastic experience everyone led me to expect." Looking at Charles' last move he grinned. "Oh, that was a good move."

Charles smiled a bit at that, "Well, one can hardly believe all the rumors one hears after all."

"Less with the rumors and more of the grand statements by people who don't remember the time," Darwin shrugged.

That garnered a laugh, "I suppose that's true. Have any good teachers?"

He shrugged. "Eh, well enough."

Charles glanced up from the board again, "Which middle school were you at?"

"Oh, Easterton. I'll assume you were at the other one," Darwin said, still with a grin.

"Yes, I was at the other one, and yet here we are sitting across a chess board from one another. I guess the town's not as big as some people like to think."

"No town is," Darwin replied.

Charles inclined his head at that, "Granted." He moved one of his rooks, "Checkmate."

Darwin blinked down at that. "That was fast," he laughed. "Well played then."

"Thank you, you as well. We'll have you playing good chess in no time I'm sure."

"That's certainly the hope," Darwin replied, glancing over to where his boyfriend sat.

Hank sat down, adjusting his wire rim glasses as he eyed the teen across from him. "Do you have a color preference?" he asked, dumping the pieces.

Alex shrugged, "No." He looked around the room before focusing on Hank again, "I can take white I guess."

Looking at him, Hank smirked slightly. "I suppose I might as well give you any advantage I can."

Hank was really fortunate looks couldn't kill because Alex was trying his hardest with the expression on his face, "Right, yeah, sure." He set up his pieces and, once Hank was set, opened with a standard move.

"I'm surprised you know how that piece moves," Hank said, countering it.

"You really do know how to piss a guy off real quick, don't you?" Alex muttered.

"You're not used to being bullied back?" Hank returned sweetly.

Alex scowled at him, "Bullied is one thing. Picking on brain power just cause I don't keep my nose in science textbooks for fun is another."

"How is that another thing?" Hank asked, taking one of his pawns.

"Asking me if I know how a chess piece moves is like asking if I know how to use _Google_. Just cause I don't spend all my time reading or watching _Star Wars_ doesn't mean I can't hold my own. So back off," he all but growled, moving his king-side rook.

"Sure it doesn't," Hank said, taking another of his pieces.

Alex bristled, the urge to walk out growing stronger by the moment, but he'd be damned if he did that, "Fine, obviously it makes me a Neanderthal."

"That's your manners that does that."

"Oh, _rude_ is it? Great, so now I'm uncouth _and_ uneducated. Yes, I'm completely letting Darwin drag me into something again. Just because I have no inclination to ingratiate myself to everyone I meet doesn't mean..." One of his hands clenched and he drew a deep breath, moving another piece.

"Doesn't mean what?" Hank asked, picking off another of Alex's pieces.

"None of your damn business," the blond snapped, finally capturing one of Hank's pieces.

The taller teen shrugged. "Well, pressing would require me to care, which I don't. So, tell me, if you hate it so much why are you here?"

"Hate chess? Did I say that?"

"You act like you hate sitting here."

"Well, I'm sure as hell not happy about sitting across from you and having myself insulted with every frickin' breath that comes out of your mouth."

"You started it," Hank said.

"I started it?"

"You insulted my shirt," Hank said, adjusting his glasses again.

Alex gaped at him, "I said two words about your shirt. You..." He shook his head, falling silent and glaring at the chess board.

Hesitating a moment, Hank leaned back. "What did I do?" he asked softly.

"Nothing."

"It was apparently something," Hank muttered, pushing a piece across the board.

Alex moved his queen before answering, "I insulted your shirt and you came back by questioning _me_. Not something physical. _Me_."

"When people question my fashion taste, generally speaking they're discussing me," Hank replied. "It's a statement on who and what I am as much as anything else."

"And so you question my ability to use my brain, thanks for that."

Shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. Hank fiddled with his glasses again. "Well," he started. "I just was surprised you knew how to play chess."

"I live with golden boy," he half gestured toward where his brother was seated, "you pick things up whether you want to or not. And you really think I'd be stupid enough to show up here and not know how the pieces move?"

Hesitating again, Hank shrugged. "Maybe?"

"Right, yeah, great."

"I'm sorry," Hank managed after a moment, capturing Alex's queen in the next moment.

"Forget it. You wouldn't be the first," Alex frowned at the absence of his queen, but managed to capture a knight in response.

"Checkmate," Hank said a moment later and held his hand out over the board.

The blond surveyed the board and eyed Hank for a moment before shaking the hand warily, "Good game."

Hank offered him a faint smile as Piotr walked by, marking down their scores.

"Alright kids," the art teacher called out. "Good first class. I marked what everyone got time and piece wise and who won what. I'll see about getting some rankings up and we'll go from there the next meeting."

The students set about packing up their things and getting the chess sets returned to him before heading for the door, Alex one of the first out.

Hank watched him go with a sigh. "This will be an interesting year," he muttered.

* * *

><p>Hello all! Meadowlark here with your authors' note for this one. We had originally talked about listing the parings, but as I forgot to contribute to the note last chapter it didn't get done. So if you want the list drop us a review asking for them and we'll let you know. A couple should be obvious, we're obviously building a CharlesErik and we've got Alex and Darwin dating so far. As to the other dozen or so, they'll start gradually showing up, but as this is our "break writing" it could be a while.

As I just said this is the story we write between work on our others. It's designed to be able to stand alone after each of the chapters, but either way the posts on it will take longer than most of our other updates. In the meantime we have a stack of stories if you would like. The other thing that encourages us to work on this one (which we love, don't get us wrong) is reviews. Our lives have kinda gone to pieces in the last week or two (VS's especially) and seeing reviews, not just favorites and alerts, honestly does improve our days. We look forward to hearing from you! The next shot will introduce you to part of the faculty who will be with us for the next "four years".


	3. Adjournment

Logan Howlett set his beer down on the table in the teacher's lounge, ignoring the odd looks he was getting from the rest of the faculty and especially not paying attention to Stark's eye roll as the principal rummaged through the fridge.

Kurt Wagner strolled in, glancing around before dropping into a chair at the table. He grinned at Logan, "Still drinking on school property, my friend?"

"It's still allowed," he replied, lifting the can in half a salute. "How many of the newbies do you think I'm gonna frighten this year?"

"Based off past records?" Tony said, taking a seat at the table with stolen food. "All of them."

Kurt laughed, "You can be charming when you take it into that head of yours to be so. If you wanted to, I'm sure there is at least one or two you could avoid terrifying."

"If I wanted to," Logan smirked. "Oi, Stark. Don't you have your own private fridge or somethin'?"

"You're assuming if I did, that it's stocked with food," Tony replied.

"He just misses our company, I'm sure," Kurt answered, glancing toward the door and his brows rising as the new English teacher entered. "Well, what have we there?"

Tony's eyes snapped over and Logan just groaned at the pair of them. "Ms Pryde," he said, kicking out the chair next to him, which would put him between her and the other two. "Enjoying your first week?"

Kitty Pryde glanced at the principal and history teacher before taking the chair Logan had offered, "Well, so far it's not much worse than when I was student teaching, but..." She shrugged, "I guess we'll see as the year goes on."

"You just have to learn to show people you're the boss," Logan said with a grin, taking another drink as Tony gave him a dark look across the table.

Kitty watched him, her hazel eyes wide, "Are you supposed to be drinking that here?"

That earned a sharp bark of laughter from Kurt, "The first thing you need to learn, Katzchen, is that Logan does as he pleases when he pleases."

"What he said," Logan said with another smirk.

Tony sighed. "It's a special deal with the Supe. Don't ask."

She just blinked at them, shaking her head, "Okay, I won't ask again then."

"You learn not to question things here," Tony informed her. "Especially when they're short, stocky, and Canadian."

Kitty bit her lip to hide her grin. Leaning against the table and cupping his chin in his hand, Kurt offered her a charming smile, "So, Kitty, you're settling in well and the students are doing well by you so far then? Any of them stand out?"

"I would almost say it's too early to say," she answered, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks at the grin he offered.

Logan stomped on Kurt's foot. "Any ideas?"

The history teacher yelped slightly at that, causing an alarmed look from Kitty, "Are you okay?"

"Fine, just bit my tongue."

She eyed him but turned back to Logan, "There are a couple of boys in one of my classes, really smart from what I can see, but I don't know if one of them will ever actually talk in class-which is really too bad."

"Which one?" Logan asked. He was always mildly interested in what sort of people were passing through the school.

The young teacher sought the names for a moment, "Erik Lehnsherr's the quiet one. Charles Xavier's more vociferous about what he thinks...sometimes too much."

"One of those, huh?" Logan asked and laughed.

Kitty shook her head, "I'm just worried the others won't talk and just let him do so."

"You might want to mention that," Logan said. "After all, if they don't break the habit early, they never shut up," he added, eyes straying toward Tony. "Ain't that right, Stark?"

"I'll have you know I can be perfectly quiet," Tony rolled his eyes.

"We don't believe you," Kurt tilted his head back to grin at the Principal.

"I'll talk to him," the youngest teacher said. "He seems mostly reasonable at least."

"Don't fall into the trap of thinking that about any teenager, Katzchen," the history teacher advised.

"None of them are reasonable. Some people don't grow out of that either," Logan said.

Kitty shook her head, "They can't be that much worse than adults."

"You are closer in age to them than we are, you should have clearer memories. Were you reasonable at that age?" Kurt asked her, arching an eyebrow.

"Okay, point," she conceded.

Logan glanced over at Kurt. "Speaking of reasonable people... have you heard from Warren yet today? The last I saw he had flowers."

Kurt laughed at that, "Then you are behind the times. He is attempting chocolates this hour I believe."

"Warren?" Kitty glanced between them.

"Tall, blonde, and handsome," Kurt clarified.

"Oh, Warren! Flowers for?"

"Betsy," Logan laughed. "He's been trying for two years now. We almost never see him at lunch."

"And she's never said yes?" Kitty's eyes were wide as though she thought the other woman had to be at least a bit crazy.

"It may have something to do with his reputation... and the time her brother visited from England and nearly chased him out of town," Tony replied.

"That..." She considered and then nodded, "That could do it."

"He's pretty, but he doesn't have a whole lot else going for him," Tony added.

"Look who's talking," Logan snorted.

"I could fire you, you know," Tony replied mildly.

"But you won't," Kurt retorted. "Fury would have your hide."

"I can still dream of the day," Tony shrugged.

"Stark, everyone here knows the only reason you sit in here during lunch is in the hope that Rodgers walks in."

"Rog-"

Kurt answered the question before she could finish, "Tall, blonde, handsome, and muscled. Teaches PE."

"Alright, almost everyone," Logan amended and Tony just narrowed his eyes.

Kurt grinned at the Principal, "It's not my fault that everything I just told her is true, there's no need for that look, Tony. We all know you're trying to figure out how many ways to ask him out without violating some code or other that Fury has in place."

"Fury has a lot of those," Tony sighed.

"I think there's also something about improper relations between a boss and their employee?" Logan offered and Tony waved him off.

"But when has that had the right to stand between Tony Stark and what he wants?" Kurt asked, grin sharpening.

"Exactly," Tony said.

"He was being sarcastic," Logan huffed.

"Doesn't make the point any less valid."

"Fury will kill you if you cause a lawsuit," the history teacher reminded.

The principal just shrugged. "I could probably pay the entire thing off anyway."

"Bribing your way out of trouble, how noble," Kurt smirked, tilting back in his chair.

Steve Rogers chose that particular moment to make an appearance, "Afternoon, all."

Tony's face almost instantly broke out into a smile and the stocky math teacher just rolled his eyes, glancing over at Kitty.

Kitty was doing her best not to stare at the PE teacher as he moved over to the fridge. Kurt shook his head at her and she offered him a sheepish smile. The history teacher finally offered Steve a grin, "How are classes today, my friend?"

"The same as ever, Kurt. Yours?"

"As they were last year, but with new students," he replied.

Logan laughed. "We have quite the interesting batch this year. I'd almost like to see how they handled the physical side of things."

Steve shook his head, "They'll get the hang of it eventually. Some are built for it, others aren't, like always."

"Yeah, but of them are so skinny," Logan said. "Like that one genius in my class, McCoy or something? He looks like a twig."

"He also ran the mile faster than any other kid here this year," the blond teacher responded, finally finding what he was looking for and closing the fridge.

"You're kidding?" Logan blinked at him. "Well. A man of layers then."

"McCoy?" Kurt looked from one to the other, "A math genius, you say, Logan?"

"Yeah," Logan shrugged. "Some freshman already in the highest math class we have. I have no idea what they're planning on doing with him the next three years."

"College classes?" Kitty suggested. Kurt had fallen silent for once, simply nodding.

"Something like that," Logan agreed, taking another drink from the beer can.

Steve settled into one of the remaining chairs at the table, "Well, we're headed toward the second weekend of the year, think we'll all make it again?"

"I think it would take more than a snotty group of teenagers to take us down," Logan snorted.

"I don't know, I think germs might be able to take you down," Tony drawled, shifting a bit closer to the PE teacher.

Kurt laughed at that, though his blue eyes tracked Tony's movement, "I think we're all a shade too hearty at this point for that to work all that well."

"I live ever in hope."

"Please," Logan shook his head. "I'll probably outlast all of you." That got a sharp look from Tony.

Steve glanced at the beer in Logan's hand and looked a bit skeptical, but didn't comment on that. Kitty glanced at the clock and rose, "Well, I'm gonna head back to my room I think. See you all later."

Logan waved to her as Tony glanced back over at Steve. "Anything new in the wonderful world of sports?"

Steve glanced at him, "Not really. Practices for cross country are going pretty well. We've got a solid team this year."

"Well, that's, that's good," Tony said, planting a smile on his face. "Any new members this year?"

"A couple. At least one transfer as well." The blond offered him a bit of a grin, "How goes the administration side?"

"You've heard the phrase, herding cats, I assume?" Tony replied.

That garnered a laugh, "Yeah, I'm familiar with that one."

"Well, it's worse than that," Tony deadpanned. "You people are so lucky I find this mess my calling somehow."

Kurt chuckled, but kept his mouth shut as Steve offered Tony a smile, "Thanks for that."

"Well," Tony amended. "There are some bonuses and some worthwhile people to herd."

The PE teacher grinned, "Yeah? Well as long as you like parts of the job, right?"

Tony's eyes widened slightly and he nodded as Piotr Rasputin can into the room, looking around.

Kurt looked up as the chess team coach entered. His grin turned sly, "Looking for someone, my friend?"

"What?" he asked.

"She came and went," Logan informed him, cracking up into his beer.

The history teacher leaned back in his chair, still grinning, "You only missed her by about five minutes. If that."

Piotr sighed, heading for the fridge. "Wait, did someone take my lunch?"

Kurt shrugged, "I don't know, I haven't checked the fridge except to get mine. Did someone?"

Logan gave Tony a long look. "Aren't you rich enough to buy your own damn food?" he hissed across the table where Piotr couldn't hear them.

"Usually, yes," Tony replied. "I was trying to get away from Natasha earlier."

Logan rolled his eyes. "You owe me for this," he muttered, leaning back again. "Hey, kid. You can share mine today if you need to."

Steve offered Tony a reproachful look, "I've got some left over too, if you want it, Piotr."

"Oh, no," Piotr started and Logan gave him a long look.

"Kid, do you notice how much food I have?"

"Yes?" the Russian returned.

"Eat," Logan said, planting him in the seat that Kitty had been in earlier.

Kurt grinned a bit at that, "Don't question Logan. You should know this rule by now."

"Point," Piotr said after a moment, sitting down.

"So, I have to ask," the history teacher watched the younger man across from him, "Why do you not simply wait at her classroom, you would certainly be able to say hello at least then."

"Oh," Piotr replied, eyes going wide. "I mean, I'm not... that is..."

"Try it tomorrow," Logan snorted.

Kurt grinned, "After all, you then do not have to worry about missing her at lunch, since you seem to consistently do so."

"I get distracted," he mumbled.

"Exactly. So, stop by her classroom," the other teacher encouraged. "I am sure she would appreciate it."

"If you think so..."

Tony nearly banged his head against the table, but it wasn't like he was entirely better.

Steve finally spoke up, "If we're talking about Kitty Pryde, then yeah, he thinks so. And he's probably right."

"Yes, this is one of the few times I'd advise you to take Wagner's advice," Tony said.

"Thank you for that vote of confidence, Tony," Kurt drawled. "I'm almost hurt."

"But only almost," Tony said. "So I'll take that."

"And if I was hurt?"

"But you aren't so it's wasted speculation," Tony said, standing as he looked at his watch.

Kurt grinned, but glanced at the clock, "I suppose I had best bid you all good afternoon and head back to my classroom."

"You mean in time for the kids to swarm?" Logan asked.

"I hope to get there before them, my friend."

Logan snorted. "You might want to run then."

Grinning again, the history teacher rose gracefully and offered a bit of a bow to the others, "Good day then."

Looking at the time, Piotr's eyes widened and he bolted toward his own class room, Logan following at a more sedate pace.

The next day, Tony Stark bought lunch for the entire staff room.

* * *

><p>Hello all! We bring you the first glimpse of the Teacher's Lounge and a handful of the staff. Apologies for the short update, but we figured a short one was better than none. We are still working on this one, slowly but surely, and revising our plans as we go.<p>

We look forward to hearing from all of you and what you think! Thank you for reading!


End file.
